


Mania

by glaciya



Series: JayTim Week-AUs and Tropes [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: And past abuse, Angst, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, I mixed a bunch of canon verses and made my own, Joker Junior - Freeform, M/M, Post Joker Junior Tim, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-04-06 20:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14064483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glaciya/pseuds/glaciya
Summary: “I didn’t realize,” Dick’s voice startles Jason, but he doesn’t loosen his grip on Tim. When he looks up, Dick is staring at them with wide eyes. “That you two were...uh.”It hits Jason then, what the position they’re in might look like from Dick’s point of view. His restraining hold on Tim, and Tim’s now submissive posture, curled up against his chest, probably look to an outsider like a comforting embrace between two people who are much more acquainted than they actually are. His face flushes, but he doesn’t bother to correct Dick’s misunderstanding.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well I received a request on Tumblr for: "Everyone told Jason not to hurt Tim, but no one told Tim not to hurt Jason."  
> and wanted to combine that with Jaytimweek's day five prompt for- Fake/Pretend relationship BUT I really didn't want to go an obvious route with it...so after throwing out several other ideas, this one came to mind. It's about Tim's recovery after being kidnapped by the Joker and Jason helping him through it :)

Jason is familiar with the searing flash of rage, he’s known the heavy ache of grief, and, more recently, he’s become slightly more accustomed to the warmth of happiness. This emotion though, the one sitting thick in his chest, threatening to crush his lungs and heart, is new. 

It’s been there since Alfred called him half an hour ago. He doesn’t even remember the trip to the hospital, yet somehow he’s travelled the eight miles from his safe house to get to the waiting room where the rest of them are. 

Dick is the first to notice him, and Jason tries not to feel offended when his face twists in a grimace. Jason doesn’t slow his stride even as Dick stands and marches forward to meet him.

“What are you doing here?” Dick’s eyes are bloodshot, Jason notices once they’re standing face to face. 

“Alfred called,” Jason says. “Said Tim was asking for me.”

“We all agreed your interference wasn’t necessary,” Damian says, coming to stand beside them. He’s holding a half eaten candy bar, looking unbothered by the situation, but Jason easily notices the tension set in his shoulders.

“You mean Bruce didn’t want me involved and the rest of you were too pathetic to argue, except you Babs,” he leans around Dick to look at Barbara. She doesn’t acknowledge him, keeping her gaze on the door of the room Tim is in. Jason remembers being told that she was the first to get to Tim after...everything. “But Alfred made the executive, and wise, decision not to listen to Bruce.”

“Jason,” Dick’s voice is pleading even though Jason hasn’t even done anything yet. “He’s not-well he’s different right now.”

“Of course he’s different. He’s been the Joker’s plaything for weeks.”

Dick’s face crumbles a fraction. “Tim isn’t like you were, Jason. He’s completely shut down in there. He hasn’t even said a word after he stopped asking for you. It’s like-”

“If your next words are going to be something stupid like broken I am going to smash your face in,” Jason snarls. 

Fortunately, for Dick, their argument is interrupted by the sound of a crash coming from Tim’s room before the door swings open to reveal Bruce backing out slowly. There’s blood dripping down the side of his face. 

“Father!” Damian starts forward but Bruce waves a hand to stop him. 

“Bet you deserved that,” Jason says, unable to help himself. Bruce throws a tired look at him, but Jason doesn’t feel guilty in the slightest. It’s not like Bruce is blameless. 

“He’s asking for you,” Bruce replies dismissively. Jason rolls his eyes but takes that as his cue to finally get to Tim. He takes two steps forward before Dick is reaching out to stop him. 

“Just be careful with him please. He’s not broken but he’s fractured right now,” Dick says. “You understand what he’s going through more than anything, and I know you two have had a rough past, but don’t hurt him.” 

The accusation that Jason would stoop so low, mixed with Damian’s threatening stance, and Bruce’s wary gaze hurt, though it really shouldn’t at this point. He wants to scream, ask them what kind of monster they think he is, but he stays silent, knowing it’s a lost cause. 

Instead he scoffs and shoves his way past them, swinging the door shut behind him to put at barrier between Jason and Tim in the hospital room and Bruce, Dick, Damian, and Barbara out in the hall. 

And then the air is filled with a thick, heavy silence. 

It takes Jason a moment to find Tim because he isn’t laying on the bed where Jason expects him to be. Instead, he’s sitting on the window ledge, looking out at the buildings surrounding the hospital. His posture is relaxed, one leg curled up close to his chest and the other dangling off the ledge, swinging slowly back and forth. The hand resting in his lap has fresh blood on it, Jason notices. 

Tim must have heard Jason come in, but he doesn’t turn his attention away from the window. Jason uses the opportunity to get a good look at Tim. 

There aren’t very many external injuries, but Jason wasn’t really expecting any. Whereas Joker had wanted to break Jason down physically, with Tim he had wanted destroy his mind. Alfred had told Jason of Joker’s sick plan to torture Tim into thinking he was the Joker and Harley’s son. How he’d been dressed up like a miniature version of the psycho clown when Bruce and Barbara had found him.

He still has some makeup stained on his face, red paint smudged around his mouth and cheeks, his eyes and lips are lined with black, plus there are white smudges around his chin, neck, and forehead. 

His hair looks like it might have been gelled back several hours ago, but now it’s thoroughly messed up with several strings of it hanging in his face. The misplaced strands aren’t enough to cover the worst of Tim’s wounds, a bright red circle burned into his temple. Tim’s facing in such a way that Jason can only see the left side of his face, but he has no doubt that Tim has another wound mirrored on his right temple. 

Jason knows what it is from. Joker had played around a little with shock therapy during their time together, but quickly grew bored of it when he couldn’t actually see the extent of the damage he was doing to Jason. 

Jason can see it had been Joker’s main tool in breaking Tim’s mind, and he desperately hopes the marks won’t scar. The thought alone of Tim having to get a visual reminder of his torture every time he looks into the mirror makes that ache still in Jason’s chest intensify.

He’s reaching out before he even puts conscious thought to it, lifting a hand toward Tim’s face. Later, he won’t be able to even begin to explain to himself why he did it, touching Tim so soon after what happened could be nothing but a bad idea, and maybe if he had been given the chance to stop himself he would have come to his senses. But Tim doesn’t give him the chance. 

His hand is only a couple inches away when Tim moves. Jason watches it happen, but doesn’t have time to stop it when Tim delivers a palm strike onto the center of his chest. The force has Jason stumbling back and Tim follows, slamming his heel into Jason’s stomach as he leaps off the window ledge. 

His vision blurs for what feels like only a second but when it clears he’s face down on the hospital bed with his arm twisted behind him in an uncomfortable and dangerous position. On top of having a grip on his arm, Tim has a knee pressed firmly into his lower back. Jason laughs despite himself, remembering Dick’s warning.  Maybe someone should have warned  _ Jason  _ about  _ Tim _ .

Tim doesn’t seem to find the situation as humorous as Jason does. “Don’t touch me,” he snarls in Jason’s ear. 

“Yessir,” Jason mumbles into the pillows, then lets out an embarrassing yelp when Tim shifts his arm back even further. “Alright I get it! No touchies!”

It still takes Tim a moment to let him up, easing off Jason in slow increments like he doesn’t trust Jason to keep his word. Jason supposes with their past, he deserves that. He waits until Tim has moved a good distance away from him before he sits up, not wanting to startle Tim. He expects Tim to retreat back to the window but Tim only settles on the bed beside him, like he didn’t just freak out over Jason getting too close. 

“You seem to be recovering well,” Jason grunts, moving his strained shoulder in a slow circle to stretch it out. Tim’s answering silence makes him rethink his words and he winces. “Sorry I didn’t mean to-” he trails off with an awkward cough. 

Tim cocks his head to the side like he doesn’t understand why Jason would apologize. His lips are pursed like he’s trying very hard not to smile, and the twinkle in his eyes is familiar in a way that makes Jason’s stomach swoop with nausea. He breaks eye contact with Tim, looking down at his own lap instead. 

“Alfred said you asked for me.”

“I did.” 

“Why,” Jason frowns. “You didn’t expect comfort from me, I hope.”

“I don’t need comfort. I need someone who understands what happened and what I’m going to try to do in the future.”

“That sounds ominous.” Jason risks looking back up at Tim. “What do you plan on doing in the future, Tim?”

“Killing,” Tim says mildly. 

“And here I thought you were about to get interesting. Why would I care if you started killing people? Other than it’d prove once again that you’re a copycat.” 

Tim starts shaking his head before Jason even finishes his sentence. “It’s not the action that I’m worried about, it’s the target of the action.” Tim’s expression turns thoughtful. “Or I guess targets would be more accurate.” 

The ache in Jason’s chest turns a bit sharper and he has to swallow twice before responding. “Who all are you planning on killing?” 

He already knows the answer, but it still sends a sick shock when Tim turns to the door with a dark look, toward the people they care about sitting on just the other side. Joker had wanted a sidekick, someone to follow through with his sick plans against Bruce and laugh along with him when they succeeded together. 

He wonders how bad the Joker’s temptation is infecting Tim’s mind. It must have a strong grip on it if Tim’s seriously concerned he’ll hurt them. But not strong enough that Tim can’t fight back. 

“What can I do to help you?” It’s a relief when Jason’s words bring Tim’s attention back toward him. He didn’t want to keep Tim lost in whatever train of thought was causing such an expression on Tim’s face.

“I need you to get me away from here for awhile. Keep me away from them until I can stand the sight of them without looking for the nearest weapon,” Tim says. “Can you do this for me? If not I need to know so I can figure something else out.”

They both know Tim doesn’t really have any other options at this point, but it doesn’t matter because Jason had made up his mind even before Tim had really asked him that he would do whatever he could to help Tim.

He doesn’t get time to express this verbally though because there’s a knock on the door. 

“Tim is everything okay?” Dick’s voice comes right after the knock and Jason watches with dread as Tim’s face twists in an ugly expression. “I’m coming in.”

The door lets out a creak as Dick starts to push it open, like it’s screaming along with Jason’s silent protest.  

Tim rises in a crouch.

Jason accepts the fact that he’s about to die too young again, and leaps forward to grab Tim. 

He has the element of surprise and Tim’s distracted rage to his advantage this time so, with quick movements, he drags Tim up against him and cages him, in using all four of his limbs. He gains several new bruises and scratches that quickly well up with blood in the two second battle between him and Tim before they’re within Dick’s line of sight, but thankfully he manages to subdue him in time.

“My answer is yes,” Jason whispers, pressing his lips close to Tim’s ear. “I want to help you, so  _ let me help you _ .” Relief washes over him as Tim lets out a sigh before slumping against him. 

“I didn’t realize,” Dick’s voice startles Jason, but he doesn’t loosen his grip on Tim. When he looks up, Dick is staring at them with wide eyes. “That you two were...uh.”

It hits Jason then, what the position they’re in might look like from Dick’s point of view. His restraining hold on Tim, and Tim’s now submissive posture, curled up against his chest, probably look to an outsider like a comforting embrace between two people who are much more acquainted than they actually are. His face flushes, but he doesn’t bother to correct Dick’s misunderstanding.

“Tim is going to need some space for awhile,” Jason says. 

A memory of one of Bruce’s lectures appears in his mind where Bruce had drilled in that he needed to notice and take advantage of every opportunity in a fight. This wasn’t the type of fights that Jason preferred, but sometimes Bruce’s lessons were more useful than the man originally indended. Not that Jason would ever tell him that.

“What do you mean,” Dick asks. The look in his eyes shows that he understands where this is going and he isn’t happy about it at all. 

“You know how Bruce is. He’s going to think he’s doing the right thing, but only end up making things worse for Tim. You’re going to do too much and not give him space when he needs it. And do I really need to say anything about Damian?” Jason notices Dick opening his mouth to argue, and talks louder to silence him. “I’m the only one who gets what he’s going through, Dick. He needs me.” 

Tim starts to chuckle against his neck, a laugh not entirely his own, but before Jason or Dick can comment on it, he bites down hard into the soft flesh on Jason’s neck to shut himself up. Jason winces at the pain but doesn’t pull away. He’d gladly become Tim’s chew toy if it meant neither of them had to hear that sound continue.

“I’m taking him Dick, and you can’t stop me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked this, feel free to leave a comment and/or a kudos and if you want to check out my Tumblr where I post previews for upcoming fics you can check that out here:   
> [Glaciya](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/glaciya)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your feedback on this story! It was desperately needed and really, really helpful in giving me inspiration to continue this, you all are awesome <33 
> 
> Enjoy!

“So,” Jason states into the heavy silence that has fallen since they arrived at the manor. “We just need to pack some of your things and then we can get the hell outta dodge.”

Tim makes a vague humming noise as he leads the way up the stairs. He hadn’t been in much of a talking mood since they left the hospital. It’s better than how he was at the hospital though, Jason supposes, and he’s thankful Dick had managed to convince the family to give them space to grab Tim’s stuff. Alfred would be around somewhere, but Alfred would know enough to stay out of their way. 

Once they get to Tim’s room, Jason stands awkwardly at the door waiting for Tim to start packing himself, or give Jason some sort of direction. Tim does neither of those things. Instead he paces slowly around the room, eyes lingering on every single bit of furniture like it’s the first time he’s seeing everything.  

He remembers there were moments when Joker had him where the fear had taken over completely. It was usually during the times when Joker had left him alone, when he could let himself be weak without an audience. He would think of the things he would miss desperately, most of them were obvious, like Bruce, Alfred, and Dick, but some of them were more random. Like the night he found himself longing for his mattress, imaging laying under his warm heavy blankets instead of the cold concrete warehouse floor. 

And then, after he had accepted that he wasn’t going to get back to the manor alive, he would miss things like the soft light of the lamp on his table, or how his favorite book smelled a little like smoke from when he lived with his mom. Tim had likely reached that state of mind before his sanity broke. 

He lets Tim take two laps around the room before he can’t take watching it anymore. “We need to pack.”

Tim jumps and snaps his head over to Jason like he had forgotten Jason was still in the room. His hands don’t stop tracing unknown patterns into the dresser beside him. He stares and stares and stares, and then- “I’d like to take a shower first.”

Tim’s voice is a hoarse whisper and Jason lowers his own voice to match it unconsciously. “You can take a shower first.”

Tim looks relieved like he had been expecting Jason to refuse him. “He hadn’t been too worried about my hygiene while he had me. I’m feeling pretty gross.” He gives Jason a crooked little smile and Jason knows he’s trying to lighten the mood. 

And that’s just so like Tim, only Tim, to pick up on someone else being uncomfortable and try to make them better, no matter how fucked up he’s feeling himself. He has the sudden urge to hug Tim, to have him pressed up against his chest safe, and only holds back because he knows Tim would likely try to kill him for it. 

“He used a firehose on me once. I don’t think it was meant for washing off though,” Jason offers. He doesn't know why he says it, he’s never really talked to anyone about what had happened. Maybe it’s because there’s finally someone who understands.

“Bucket of ice water,” Tim points toward his own face. “Wasn’t meant for washing off either.”

And then they’re both laughing. It’s not a happy laugh for either of them, bordering on hysterical it’s just tears and a sob away from it turning into a cry. Jason cuts his off as soon as he has control again, and waits patiently until Tim’s giggles have tapered off. 

“I’m going to take a shower now,” Tim finally sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. 

“Alright I’ll pack some things while you’re in there unless you need me to…” Jason hesitates, gesturing toward the bathroom. 

Tim gives him a pitying look. “It’s not myself I want to harm, remember?”

“Right,” Jason clears his throat. “Well I’ll just get some stuff together for you then.”

“My suitcase is in the closet,” Tim says as he swings the bathroom door shut. Jason hears the water turn on a couple seconds later. 

“You’re welcome,” Jason mutters without much feeling as he moves to the closet. 

He goes through Tim’s things, rolling up his clothes neatly to fit everything he’ll need in there. He packs enough clothes for him to go a week without needing to do laundry, two pairs of shoes, and places his laptop on top of everything. 

His camera bag won’t fit in the suitcase so Jason just lays the bag next to the suitcase on the bed so they won’t forget it. Once he’s satisfied, he leaves the suitcase open in case Tim wants to add anything from the bathroom to it then heads downstairs to make some phone calls without the noise of the shower in the background.

He’s taking Tim to one of his favorite places to go to unwind. It’s a cabin he found hours outside the city, sitting on a hill looking over a small but beautiful lake. He had bought out the landlord using one of Bruce’s credit cards to keep the rental empty so he could have access to it whenever he liked. And right now, he needed a safe place to take Tim until they could figure out exactly how to help him. It didn’t hurt that there would be no one around but them for miles either, just in case Tim decided that their family weren’t the only ones he wanted to harm. 

It only takes a three minute phone conversation with the landlord to have the cabin set up and stocked with groceries for when they get there later. Money didn’t buy happiness, but it sure as hell could make life quite a bit easier. 

He helps himself to the ingredients in Bruce’s kitchen, wanting to make a hefty sandwich for both Tim and himself for their roadtrip. When he closes the fridge door, he nearly drops the lettuce and ham upon seeing Bruce standing there. 

“Fuck,” he says, placing the food on the counter so it’s not quite so tempting to launch them at Bruce’s face. “You are not supposed to be here.”

“This is my home,” Bruce states needlessly. “I need to know where you’re taking Tim.”

“Somewhere away from you, Brucie,” Jason smirks. “And if you knew where we were going we wouldn’t really be away from you, now would we?”

“What are you planning?”

“What the hell do you think-” Jason takes a breath and lets it out slowly. “I’m trying to help him.”

“I know,” Bruce says, surprising Jason. “I want to know how.” 

“I...don’t exactly know yet,” Jason admits. “But it needs to be me.” 

Bruce doesn’t give him a reply, just stares at him with the look he gives criminals during questioning, businessmen at Wayne Enterprise negotiations, or Jason. It usually starts a fight. 

“Can’t you just trust me with this please?” He says please in the same way that he would say the most foul curse words, just so that it sounds a little less like the plead that it is. 

“I do trust you.”

“What?” 

The look in Bruce’s eyes softens. “How long have the two of you been…?”

It takes Jason a moment to get that Bruce is talking about the relationship he thinks Jason has with Tim. “Oh that. It’s pretty recent actually.”

Bruce nods. It strikes Jason how strange this all is. He had thought there would be more questions or objections about it at least, but so far no one has even seem surprised. Or maybe they're just hiding it really well.

Jason figures its best not to comment, if they weren't already onto his lie, then he doesn't want to risk making them suspicious. A suspicious bat could be relentless, and that's really the last thing Tim and Jason need. 

He puts the lettuce and ham back in the fridge, deciding that they can just stop by a drive through on their way to the cabin. The conversation had caused an itch to grow under his skin, and he knew it was because he needed to leave. 

“I'm going to go see what's taking Tim so long.” 

“He's probably just talking to Damian,” Bruce says. “I sent him up there to check on him when we-Jason?” 

Jason, whose blood had turned to ice at Bruce’s words, starts his sprint up the stairs before Bruce could even finish his sentence. A thousand different images of what he’s going to find when he gets to Tim’s room flash through his mind in the short amount of time it takes him to get there, each more horrifying than the last. 

Half of them appear to be confirmed when he opens the door and nearly runs into Damian, who appeared to be trying to get out of the room as quickly as possible. His shirt and hands are covered in blood. 

“Oh Christ,” Jason reaches out thoughtlessly, cupping Damian’s face and then moving his hands down to Damian’s arms and shoulders. “Where are you hurt?”

“ _ I’m _ not hurt.” Damian glares at him without heat. “Now move, I need to get the first aid kit.”

Jason lets him pass only because his words make him cast a panicked look around the room for Tim. 

“Bathroom,” Damian calls helpfully as he leaves.

And that’s where he finds Tim, on the floor with his back against the tub. His left hand is wrapped in a bloodstained towel and there’s glass on the floor from the shattered mirror above the sink. 

“Ah,” Tim says. “There you are.” Something in his eyes makes Jason feel like his words should have been, ‘ _ Where were you?’ _

“I can’t leave you alone for two seconds,” Jason sighs, sliding down to sit next to him. He takes Tim’s hand and pulls it into his lap along with the bloody towel. He knows there’s nothing he can do about it until Damian gets back but it feels good to have Tim close to him.

“The reflection in the mirror wasn’t mine. I had to get rid of it.”

“Okay,” Jason says, and makes a mental note to cover up any mirrors in the cabin before Tim gets to them. 

Damian comes back in then with the first aid kit in his hands. He uses his foot to move some glass shards out of the way before kneeling down in front of them. There’s a heavy silence resting over them as Damian pulls Tim’s injured hand toward him to look at the cut. 

Tim is silent, but tense next to Jason. Jason slides an arm over his shoulders to both restrain and offer support. and  Tim nearly sags into his support. Jason tries not to pay too much attention to the warmth Tim’s trust in him brings him. He grabs Tim’s right hand with his own he lifts it, only to help prevent movement in case Tim decides he wants to attack Damian, Jason tells himself. 

“It’s fitting that you two should be together.” Damian gives their position a raised brow before he goes back to cleaning Tim’s cut. “You two can bond over how much of an embarrassment you both are to the family. I’d say I’m not sure which one of you is worse but,” he smirks. “I think Drake wins the family’s loser title today.”

“Least they wanted me around. Bruce just kinda got stuck with you.” Tim gives Damian a little smirk of his own and starts tapping a beat against Jason’s hand.

“Stalker.”

“Bastard.”

“Okay woah,” Jason says. “Down boys.”

Thankfully their argument stops, but Jason is still a little on edge. He’s been on edge since he heard what happened to Tim. He feels like Tim could snap at any moment and if Jason’s not fast enough to stop him-

Tim starts tapping his finger against Jason’s palm more insistently, digging his nail in to make the pattern impossible to ignore. It takes him a moment, but he finally gets it. 

He turns his head to find Tim already looking at him, gaze steady and calm. He keeps replaying the morse code message until Jason forces himself to relax, loosening his tight grip on Tim slightly. 

_ I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay. _

* * *

 

Jason stays in the bathroom with Damian to help him clean up while Tim moves into the bedroom to finish packing his things. 

“It’s probably not wise to get him riled up right now,” Jason says.

“I wasn’t getting him anymore riled up than usual,” Damian scoffs. He’s not looking at Jason, attention focused on placing each item back in their first aid kit exactly in the right place. 

“I know.” Jason grabs Damian’s arm and turns him so that they’re looking at each other. “But you can’t honestly think that things haven’t changed.”

“I don’t think that,” Damian says petulantly. “I just know that if I were him, and was also lacking in brain cells like he clearly is, I’d like a reminder that things will eventually be normal again.”

Jason’s quiet as he absorbs Damian’s words and when he does open his mouth, all he can say is, “Oh.”

“You can do better than this Todd.” Damian rolls his eyes, heading out of the bathroom with the kit held under his arm.

“I hope so,” Jason says quietly, even though there’s no one left around to hear him.

* * *

 

“You don’t have to do this,” Tim says on their way to Jason’s place to get his things. 

Jason had borrowed (“It’s stealing if you don’t ask first,” Tim had informed him earlier) one of Bruce’s Cadillacs, a black SUV, for the trip. He’s pretty sure Bruce won’t miss it.

“Don’t have to do what?” Jason asks, keeping his eyes on Gotham’s rush hour traffic.

“Any of it,” Tim says. “I know it’s not putting you in the best mindset.”

“But I want to.”

“Want to because I asked you and you can’t say no to someone in need or want to because you know you’re the only one who gets it?”

“Both. Neither,” Jason frowns. “I don’t know. I just do, and you deserve it. You do,” he insists when Tim snorts. He takes one hand off the wheel to hold it in between them without really thinking about it. Tim doesn’t hesitate to put his hand over Jason’s.

“It’s not going to be easy,” he says. 

“Easy is boring anyway.” Jason looks over at Tim at a stop light, taking in his relaxed posture and expression as the observes he cars around them. 

He never thought this would be easy, but he knows it isn’t impossible either.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trial and Error

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thanks so much for your patience with this story, I know it's been awhile since I've updated. There was a death in my family of someone I was really close to last month so I was dealing with that and now I'm back and trying to get settled back into a schedule not only with writing but w/ other stuff in my life as well.  
> So! I've planned this out and since I don't want to leave you all in the dark with these plans: This story is going to have five chapters total, chapter four will be out on the first Friday of July and Chapter five will be out on the first Friday of August, that way you can get semi regular updates of this and I can evenly spread my time over different projects :) (I have a HUGE jaytim project I should start posting in late fall so I'm super excited to get started on that!)
> 
> Anyway thank you all for reading this and providing me with awesome feedback (seriously ya'll are great). I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Jason finds Tim sitting outside, on the cabin’s porch steps staring up at the night sky. The air, warm and thick, moves Tim’s hair and cools Jason’s skin when it reaches him. Somewhere in the woods surrounding the cabin, leaves crunch as an animal skitters over it. An owl hoots above them. Even in the dead of night, the woods are alive and active around them, yet Tim stays frozen. 

Jason moves closer, making sure to step on the spot on the porch that always creaks so he doesn’t startle Tim. Tim doesn’t even twitch. He knew Jason was there the whole time. The nightmare must not have been too awful then, since Tim isn’t usually calm or quiet on bad nights. 

He keeps about a foot of space between him and Tim as he sits on the steps, respecting Tim’s ever present need for space. The only time he seems okay with Jason touching him is when Tim is a threat to someone else or himself. 

Since coming to the cabin there haven’t been many instances where Jason has felt the need to restrain Tim. It’s just the two of them there and for whatever reason, Jason doesn’t trigger Tim’s violence like the rest of the people they work with. And, as long as he keeps Tim in the present, he can keep Tim from being a threat to himself. A task much easier said than done.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He doesn’t specify that he’s talking about whatever nightmare woke Tim up screaming, that woke Jason up to the sound of Tim’s screams. 

“Not really,” Tim says. It’s his usual response when Jason asks about his nightmares, but Jason can’t help but feel disappointed. “But maybe it’ll help.”

Jason’s face goes slack with surprise. Now that was new. He waits a beat to measure his response, wanting to make sure he doesn’t fuck this up. “Just take your time. We can always stop if it gets to be too much.”

Tim’s chest rises, then falls with a forced steady breath. “It’s starts the same almost every time. I’m on the table and  _ he’s _ torturing me, except sometimes Batman shows up. And sometimes, sometimes we win.”

Jason knows without Tim explaining what winning might entail and tries to mask any emotion that might show on his face at the thought. Jason was always the victim in his own nightmares, which was terrible in itself. He could only imagine what it would be like to actually have a victim. Tim’s gaze is far off, staring toward the trees at something unseen, so Jason figures he must have missed the pity that flickered briefly in Jason’s eyes.

“How often are you having that dream?” 

“How often have I woke you up with my screaming?”

“About every other night,” Jason says without a beat. It wasn’t hard to remember when all week he could still hear the echo of Tim’s screams hours after the nightmares occur. 

When Tim twirls his left hand in a  _ there you have it _ gesture, Jason blows out a frustrated breath. “Well we have to figure out some way to get them to stop. What do you think will help?”   
  


“You,” Tim says, giving Jason an inquisitive look. The way he tilts his head just slightly to the left as he looks at Jason is so reminiscent of the old Tim that it makes Jason’s chest ache. 

“I don’t think I’ve got the right qualifications to be your therapist,” Jason says with a self depreciating half smile. “Unless you wanna try some hypnotherapy. I don’t have a pocket watch but I could get-” he cuts off abruptly when Tim shudders. “Fuck,” Jason says. “It was just a joke, I wasn’t thinking.”

“I don’t need or want any type of therapy,” Tim says. “What I need is to sleep without dreaming about brutalizing the people I care about and enjoying it.”

“Right,” Jason says, actively not thinking about what kind of things Joker would have used hypnotherapy for. “How do you think I can help?”   
  


“He used to leave me alone a lot, strapped to an old hospital bed under these bright lights, but he’d still talk to me over this intercom thing all the time. Sometimes it’d be nonsense, but most of the time it’d be these sick bonding activities he wanted us to do as a ‘family’,” Tim’s nose scrunches up in disgust. “I still hear his voice sometimes, I think that’s what triggers the nightmares. I know it’s crazy,” he says when he catches the expression on Jason’s face. “It’s only when I’m alone though, so I think if you’re with me when I go to sleep it’d help with the nightmares.”

Jason stares at him. “Tim you can’t even stand me touching you unless I have to, and you want me to sleep with you?”

“The bed is big enough that we won’t have to touch,” Tim says. He worries his bottom lip between his teeth as he thinks. 

“And if I move in my sleep and end up touching you somehow? I’d rather not be killed in my sleep, thanks.”

It startles Jason when Tim leans forward suddenly, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You’re right. It’s a stupid idea, I’m just tired.”

“No it’s not,” Jason says quickly. “Actually, I think I have an idea how it could work.” Jason just doubts he’s going to like it very much.

* * *

 

The handcuffs rattle against the headboard as Tim moves Jason’s arms into position. It’s a harsh, loud sound in the otherwise silent room, like the cuffs themselves are trying to warn Jason what a bad idea this might turn out to be. 

Jason ignores the warning, deeming it unnecessary. He can easily get out of the cuffs on his own if he needs to for Tim and, since the very reason he’s letting Tim cuff him to the bed is so he can stay beside Tim without Tim worrying about Jason touching him, Jason doubts he’ll need to get himself out. But just in case, he has a pick hidden in his sleeve that Tim doesn’t know about. 

Only after Jason is situated on his back, hands resting palm side up above him, wrists secured in metal, and metal looped through the wood of the headboard, does Tim settle into bed beside Jason. 

The silence doesn’t last much longer before Tim breathes out a frustrated sound and turns on his side to face Jason.. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Course I am,” Jason says. “You think I’ve never been in this position before,” he adds while wiggling both eyebrows. 

“You’re disgusting.”   
  


“See? You’re already sounding like your old self. Now just glare down your nose at me with a condescending expression and you’ll look like it too.” 

Tim rolls away from him instead of complying, shutting off the lamp and adjusting his pillow in rough movements. Even though Tim is clearly annoyed with him, Jason can’t stop grinning. 

* * *

 

When Jason wakes up unable to see or move, with something pressed against his chest constricting his breathing, his disoriented mind goes right into a flashback of waking up in the lazarus pit. So, naturally, he begins to panic. In that panic, he misses the pained grunt that comes from the lump on top of him after his legs start to kick. 

An eternity or a second later Jason notices he can finally move. He moves, despite the sudden blinding light in the room. He moves until he steps on something sharp and unrelenting then freezes, pain and clarity shooting from his foot all the way to his scalp. The cabin slowly reveals itself more with each blink as his pupils adjust to the light. 

“ _ Jason _ . Jason, are you with me? I need you to...shoot what was the-Oh! Tell me three things you hear.”

“What?” The word comes out strained, in between quick breaths. Everything else in the room seems to blur when Jason focuses on Tim. Tim stares back at him from his spot on the bed, hand slowly moving away from the lamp to settle in his lap. His blue eyes are vibrant in Jason’s tunnel vision. 

“Tell me three things you hear. Don’t,” Tim waves a finger at him when Jason opens his mouth, “question me. Just do it.”

“Your voice,” Jason says automatically before pausing to listen. “The ceiling fan...and rain. When did it start raining?”

“Sometime between you falling asleep peacefully and waking up throwing a fit,” Tim says, holding both hands up to encapsulate the time between. “You kicked me while I was getting you out of the cuffs.”

Jason winces. “Sorry. I thought I was back in the lazarus pit.” 

“It didn’t hurt that bad.” Tim shrugs. “Looks like you hurt yourself more than me.”

Almost as if Tim’s words trigger his nerve endings again, Jason can feel pain in both his wrists and his foot. He lifts his foot to find he was standing on the metal cuffs. The same cuffs that had apparently rubbed his wrists raw when he was thrashing in bed. 

“We won’t do that again,” Tim says. He stands from the bed and moves like he’s going to walk out of the room.

“I’m sorry I’m not doing a better job at helping you get better,” Jason says, still feeling raw and cut open from his nightmare. 

“You have been helping me,” Tim says. “You have no idea how much but,” he shakes his head, “we’re not doing anything at the expense of your own mental health.”

Tim leaves the room before Jason can think of a proper response. He’s sore and exhausted but, just before he follows Tim out of the room, Jason remembers there being a weight on his chest when he first woke up, and can’t help but feel a little less like the entire night was a failure.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your sweet comments and patience with this fic <33  
> You'll get to see a little bit of Tim's POV in this chapter, I hope you like it :D

Jason can tell Tim is having a bad day when he still hasn’t gotten out of the shower forty minutes after he hears the water start running. Jason’s already showered, so he knows the water has run cold by now. He gives Tim until he has the table in the sun room set up for their breakfast before he goes to knock on the bathroom door.

“Tim? If you’re done trying to drown yourself I made some eggs for you,” Jason says.

Ever since the failed sleeping together incident, Tim has made it clear that Jason doesn’t need to wear kiddie gloves around him. He also made sure Jason knew that he wasn’t responsible for Tim’s recovery. Still, Jason can’t help but worry about him.

“Tim?” Still no answer. Jason tries the door, relief flooding through him when he finds the knob unlocked.

The shower curtain is already ripped back to give him a clear view of Tim huddled on the bathtub floor, directly under the spray. Jason steps into the bathroom fully, wincing when water on the floor soaks into his socks and hissing at the spray of freezing cold that hits his hand when he goes to shut off the water. 

Tim gives him a disgruntled look, like Jason was the one who dosed him in freezing water. The look doesn’t faze Jason, who grabs a towel off the rack by the door and tosses it at Tim, but when Tim stands up, completely unashamed about his own nudity, it’s an entirely different story.

In his haste to get out of the bathroom to give Tim some privacy, Jason slips on the water that is pooled on the floor, slamming his foot into the side of the tub. It shows just how out of it Tim is that he doesn’t jump on the opportunity to make fun of Jason’s clumsiness.

He’s still flushed when Tim joins him in the sun room later, wearing boxers and a shirt too loose around his shoulders to be one of his own. He works a towel through his damp hair with one hand while his other slides the screen door shut behind him. His gaze trails disinterestedly over the breakfast arrangement Jason set out. Jason knows better than to be disappointed, although the sudden change from Tim’s usual excitement during the times Jason has cooked for them previously is a little disorienting.

Jason busies himself with serving the food so he doesn’t stare at the mechanical way Tim moves as he sits down at the table. For the same reason, Jason sits on the bench next to Tim, keeping a couple feet of space between them, so they’re both facing away from the cabin and toward the lake. It’s a beautiful sight, but neither of them are in the mood to appreciate it this morning.

Jason takes the first bite and, even though his too on edge to really take in the taste of the food, he’s still relieved when Tim mirrors the action with his own food. There had been days when Jason had to really coax Tim into eating. 

“Nightmares again?” Jason waits until Tim is over halfway done with his plate before asking, just in case he sets him off.

“No,” Tim says. He plucks a slice of mango up with his fork and chews it slowly before he continues. “I was Junior when I woke up. I started to get ready like ‘Mama’ and ‘Papa’ would want Junior to  before I snapped out of it.”

Jason nods. This wasn’t the first time Tim slipped back into Junior’s persona, but it is the first time Jason hadn’t notice it happen. Junior tends to cause a bit of a racket when he slipped out. “How did you come back to yourself?”

Tim smiles then, it’s a minuscule thing, gone in a second, but it’s there. “You were singing that stupid song again-”

Jason flushes, remembering the solo concert he’d performed while frying the bacon. “It’s catchy and you know it,” he says.

“It’s horrible,” Tim says, wrinkling his nose. “Anyway as I was going through the motions to get ready, I heard your voice and it brought me back to the present.”

Jason sips his coffee while he processes that. It makes sense really. Reminders of the present are what helps bring Jason back to himself when he’s stuck in a flashback. They’re usually dates, times, sensations. He’s never had someone serenade him back though. It sounds like something that would happen in a Disney movie.

“Always knew my singing talent would come in handy somehow,” Jason jokes, realizing the silence has stretched on too long. It feels like the wrong thing to say, like there had been something between them that started to bend, but Jason’s words smoothed it back out.Tim just snorts in response though. Maybe he didn’t feel whatever it was Jason had felt.

“I never said it was a talent,” he says. “It could have been that your off key screeches irritated my eardrums enough that Junior couldn’t take it.”

“Or it was so beautiful you couldn’t resist.” He pushes his shoulder against Tim’s without thinking about it. He catches himself too late and goes to pull away immediately, but Tim presses back against him, wordlessly letting Jason know it’s okay. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“You just did.”

“Something other than that obviously, you little shit.”

Tim smirks. “I guess I’ll allow it.”

Jason rolls his eyes, but his amusement doesn’t last long with the seriousness of his question. “I guess I was just wondering, why me? I mean, how did you know I wouldn’t trigger Junior but the others would?”

“Think about it from Joker’s point of view. Batman and Red Hood have had some pretty serious fights in Gotham. Red Hood has even been seen fighting Nightwing and Robin at times, but he’s never been seen working with any of them. And why would a crime lord want to work with Gotham’s vigilantes anyway?” Tim shakes his head with a fond smile. “No one would ever guess that we’re on the same side...most of the time.”

Jason hums. “I guess my relationship with you all is a little complicated. 

“A little is an understatement,” Tim says. “Joker never imagined that he’d need to brainwash me against you, like he did with everyone else. Although I guess there wouldn’t have been much for him to ruin anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we never did get along very well, did we?” Tim shrugs. “You always call me nerd and like, cuss and stuff when I’m around.”

“I always cuss, that doesn’t mean we don’t get along,” Jason says, frowning at him. “And the nerd thing was just me teasing you.”

“That’s not very nice,” Tim jokes.

“ _I’m_ not very nice,” Jason points out.

“Yes you are,” Tim says, voice turning serious. “You’re one of the nicest people I know.”

“Oh.” Jason feels his face heat. “Tim, I-” Jason’s burner phone rings, causing both of them to jump. Jason scrambles for the phone in his pocket while Tim reaches for a napkin to clean up  the orange juice he had spilled on himself.

Jason’s pulse throbs when he reads Roy’s name shining on the screen. Roy never calls him unless it was an emergency. He answers the call as quick as he can.

“Hello?” he says. “Red? What-”

The phone blares static in his ear for only seconds before all sound cuts off completely. Jason pulls the phone away from his ear, staring at the now blank screen in confusion. He can feel Tim’s curious gaze on him but doesn’t know what to say. He goes into his recent calls to try to redial but a new text message shows up before he can actually make the call.

It’s a picture message of Black Mask kneeling next to Roy, who is tied up and gagged on the floor. He looks a little roughed up, but otherwise okay, and his mask is still on to preserve his identity, thankfully. Jason feels a rush of warmth through the anger when he notices Roy’s finger flipping the camera the bird.

Another message comes in from Mask, telling him to come alone to a coordinates. Not an original plot, but at least Black Mask didn’t feel the need to add the ominous ‘Or else.’

“It’s a trap,” Tim says in a bored tone. He steals a piece of bacon off Jason’s plate. “What are you going to do?”

“I know it’s a trap but I have to go,” Jason says, looking over the picture again. “Mask just never gives it up. Fuck, of all the times...”

“He seems like the type to hold a grudge,” Tim says. “At least that place is close. You’ll be able to get in and out in twelve hours, tops.”

“What about you?”

Tim chews on his bottom lip as he thinks. “Well I should be fine for a day. And, if not, it's not like there’s anyone else around I could be a threat to.”

“You could hurt yourself.”

“I’m not suicidal and neither was Junior. There’s a high chance any damage I would do to myself would heal eventually,” Tim says.

“That’s not very reassuring,” Jason scoffs.

  
“Well it’s the best you’re going to get,” Tim says, the first signs of frustration showing in his voice. “If you don’t go Roy will die, and if you bring me with you, Roy will die.”

“Fuck,” Jason says again. “I guess I need to get packed.”  
  


**Tim’s POV**

 

The cabin becomes suffocatingly quiet the moment Jason closes the door behind him.

“Twelve hours or less,” he tells himself. It’ll be good for him to see how he can handle being alone. He isn’t going to have Jason around forever, and doesn’t want Jason to feel like he has to keep sacrificing his time for Tim, even though he knows Jason would never complain. If things go smoothly, when Jason gets back they can talk about what the next step will be.

“Twelve hours or less,” he says again.

Worrying about his own issues won’t help him, and neither will worrying about Jason so Tim heads for his camera bag. Photography is always a good distraction for him and, with the woods and lake surrounding the cabin, Tim’s bound to get some great shots.

As soon as Tim steps outside, he loses himself in his photographers mind. Finding the perfect angle to show off the yellow of a goldfinch he finds resting on a tree takes priority over any other thoughts swirling around in his mind. The relaxing concentration of getting the perfect lighting to show the sun reflecting on the surface of the lake outweighs any negative emotions that are sitting in his chest.

By the time the sun sets and it gets dark, Tim has enough photos to create an album and a new weightless feeling in his chest. He goes to sleep after setting the camera up to his laptop, so he can edit them when he wakes to show to Jason when he gets back.

____

 

Junior wakes up in the unfamiliar room again. He wonders if it’s another one of Papa’s tests. It’s the only reason he can think of that he wouldn’t be strapped to his bed in the cell like he usually is. He can’t fail. Papa gets angry when he fails tests.

He’s been through tests like these, where he’s supposed to find one of Papa’s henchmen dressed in a cheap intimidation of the Batman costume and take them out. Those scenarios usually took place in the old toy factory he was born and raised in, so Junior knows it must mean something new is happening. He might even get a chance to take on the real Batman this time. Excitement thrums through him.

Excitement and something else.  Junior touches his head, frowning. He remembers feeling that pain before, but can’t remember when he felt it. It doesn’t have anything to do with the test, so he ignores it to get dressed. Or, he tries to ignore it, but it only seems to get worse when he can’t find any of the purple and green suits he normally wears and has to slip on just a t-shirt and jogging sweats that fit him perfectly.

He finds a duffel bag full supplies he might need under the bed; a bullet proof vest (not something Papa was ever too concerned about, but Junior puts it on anyway), two guns(one with rubber bullets and another with tranquilizing shots-they shouldn’t be ideal but for some reason seeing the non lethal bullets makes Junior happy), and a red domino mask (another unnecessary thing Junior decides to wear without question).

The pain continues to intensify as he makes his way to the bathroom, becoming nearly blinding when he gets a look at his reflection. It’s painful to even look at, but he can’t seem to pull his gaze away. Nothing about him is right, his face should be painted and his hair should be spiked up, but the way he looks in the red domino mask feels so natural. It’s so jarring that he falls to his knees on the bathroom floor, gasping.

Tim wakes up on the familiar tile of the bathroom floor, clutching his head until the pain goes away along with any delusions he woke up with. Tim laughs- _his own laugh_ \- breathlessly. He pulled himself out of his Junior persona. Jason would be proud.

Tim’s laughter cuts off abruptly and he rushes back to the bedroom to check his phone for the time. It’s almost eleven, meaning Jason should be back by now, but when he checks Jason’s location through his tracker, Tim sees that he’s still at the coordinates Black Mask sent him to. Something must have gone wrong.

The location is a couple hours away, even with a car, so Tim doesn’t waste any time trying to plan an attack. He ties his hair back, grabs Jason’s duffel bag, and leaves the cabin, feeling more like himself than he has in months.

\--------

Three hours later, Tim drives a stolen semi truck through the entrance of Black Mask’s hideout. He catches them all by surprise and, since most of them are still recovering from Jason’s attack earlier, they don’t put up too much of a fight between the pain of the rubber bullets and the forced sleep of the tranq shots.

Mask escapes along with a few of his men with a helicopter they had ready to go on the roof just in case they would need a quick escape, but Tim is more concerned with finding Jason and Roy. He follows Jason’s tracker through the compound and into a room that they’ve made into a makeshift holding cell for Jason and Roy.

The first thing Tim sees after bursting in is Jason breathing heavily , standing over two unconscious guards. He has a gun pointed at Tim, but he lowers it once he recognizes Tim.

“Are you okay?” They both ask it at the same time and then laugh simultaneously.

“I guess you’re not too hurt if you could take on armed guards,” Tim says but he still moves closer to Jason to check for any serious wounds. He doesn’t find anything worse than a few cuts and bruises. “What happened?”

“Cowards put a gun to Roy’s head and made me surrender,” Jason says, using Tim’s close proximity to pull him into a hug. “I’m glad you’re alright."

“Me too-I mean, I’m glad that you’re alright too,” Tim says, hesitantly putting his hands around Jason.

“That’s real cute and all,” Roy says, making them jump apart. “But do one of you mind to help untie me?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red's Robin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINAL CHAPTER!   
> And it's out earlier than I expected it to be too! This is another series, like It's a Thing, that turned out to be shorter than I had originally planned. But as I was looking over the ten chapter outline a couple months ago, I realized I didn't really like the direction the fic would have went. I've added kind of a summary of the original plan to the end notes of this if anyone is curious. As it is, while this fic is pretty short, I am really happy with how it turned out and I hope everyone who has followed this series and supported me through it is happy with it too! <33

“If you don’t pick up the pace, the cops are going to be celebrating the capture of the infamous Red Hood tonight,” Tim’s voice chirps in his ear.

Jason laughs, breathless because he’s desperately searching for an exit in the maze of the hidden basement in a warehouse. Drug traffickers needed bigger and bigger places of operations these days it seemed. 

“Well if my partner was somewhat usual at his job, this wouldn’t be a problem,” Jason says teasingly. He can hear Tim typing and clicking away through the piece in his ear. 

“Hey, don’t blame me,” Tim says. “It’s not like they would have added the secret drug factory basement to the blueprints. There should be a cellar door somewhere nearby they would have used to get the drugs out of the building. Should be..on the east side of the building, that would lead out to the alleyway.”

Sure enough, when Jason heads that way he finally finds his exit. Right in time too, since the cops arrive just as he’s getting out his grapple gun. He doesn’t waste any more time, shooting it off and making his escape to the roofs before anyone can spot him. 

“That was close,” he says with a little chuckle. Adrenaline is pulsing thick through his veins because of just how close it was. 

“Too close,” Tim sighs in his ear. There’s no background noise this time meaning Tim must have stopped his frantic typing on the computer. 

“Well you know what they say about close calls,” Jason says as he makes his toward his motorcycle. He makes sure to hide it nearby places he’s about to hit in case he ever needs to make a quick getaway, like tonight for instance. 

“That they could be avoided if you’d stop rushing into danger without a plan,” Tim says. His tone is light though, so Jason knows he isn’t too angry. 

“No, that a mission isn’t a success unless there’s at least one close call.”

This gets a laugh out of Tim. “No one says that.”

“I did,” Jason says grinning. “Just now.” He makes it to his bike, ripping the tarp off of it and lifting a leg to slide onto the seat. 

“Well you’re an idiot, so you don’t count.”

Jason gasps dramatically and clutches at his chest, knowing Tim is likely using the street camera above him to watch him. “That really hurt Timmy.”

Tim hums. “I’m not sorry.”

“Well you should be,” Jason says, pausing to start up his bike. “I’m not feeling much like bringing you back dinner now.”

“Oh no,” Tim moans. “Please, I’m so sorry. I’ll never question your judgement or call you names again. You’re right and I’m wrong, just like always. You-”

“Alright, alright,” Jason says, and Tim can probably hear the amusement in his voice. “I’ll pick you up something, only because you sound so pathetic.”

Tim makes a pleased noise. “I want burgers.”

“Yessir,” Jason says, taking a right at the next light to head toward his favorite burger joint in downtown Gotham.

They’ve only been back in Gotham for a week, but Tim already seems the more like himself than he has in weeks. Jason’s sure he has several new strands of white hair just from the stress of their first night in town, but all his worrying proved to be unnecessary. Other than the occasional nightmare, Tim has continued to move forward with his recovery.

Like with Jason, Gotham will always be Tim’s home. It’s dirty, crime ridden streets were comforting to them unlike it would be with an outsider. And, with his new job as Jason’s own personal Oracle, Tim could feel like he was a part of things again. 

Having Tim by his side and at his back during the few patrols he’s been on since Tim single-handedly saved him and Roy has been an experience he’ll never forget. While Tim isn’t ready to suit up and go out onto the field yet-despite how badass Jason told him he had looked holding Jason’s modified pistols- he’s still eager to help Jason out behind the scenes. And he’s great at it too, calling out any information Jason might need, often times before Jason even thinks to ask for it. He’s also quite ruthless with his critique of some of Jason’s fighting techniques and sass when Jason is needlessly reckless. Jason loves it, feels almost spoiled by Tim’s company alone, and he can’t help but dread the day Tim decides to leave Jason behind. 

Jason doesn’t hear from Tim again until after he’s picked up their food and is on his way back to the penthouse Tim bought not long after Damian moved into Wayne manor. 

“Dick is here,” Tim says. His voice has a forced sort of flatness to it, like he’s trying to hide his panic from Jason. 

“What,” Jason says, not because he didn’t hear him but because he can’t believe Dick would be so stupid. He told him to leave them be. 

“He’s here. I can see him in the hallway outside,” Tim replies. “He’s asking to come in.”

“Well tell him to go fuck himself,” Jason snaps, accelerating dangerously through a turn. “Better yet, just ignore him until I get there and then I can tell him myself.”

“I think,” Tim pauses before speaking again, and Jason can hear Dick saying something through the intercom outside that Tim is listening to. “I think I’m going to let him in.”

“Not a good idea Timmers,” Jason says, but he already knows it’s a losing battle. Dick could outtalk Jason any day of the week. “At least wait until I get there.” 

There’s nothing but silence coming from Tim’s line. Jason curses again, but no one can hear him since Tim apparently went ahead and let Dick inside. He pushes his motorcycle to go faster, but even at that speed he’s still eight minutes away from Tim’s penthouse. He’ll just have to trust that Tim can handle things until he gets there. 

The dread he feels during the drive and on the trip up the elevator seems almost anticlimactic when he bursts through the door to the penthouse suite only to find Dick and Tim sitting side by side on the couch. Their postures are both relaxed, even though there’s a careful amount of space between them. 

“Hello Jay,” Dick greets warmly while Tim picks at a stray strand of fabric and avoids Jason’s eyes. 

“Go fuck yourself,” Jason says, because he’s a man of his word, but Dick just smiles back at him, like he said something endearing. 

“I was just telling Tim here that Alfred invited everyone over for lunch tomorrow,” he says. “It’s his birthday.”

“Oh yeah,” Jason says with a grimace. “I totally forgot about that.”

“Well you’ve been pretty busy,” Dick says. “You don’t have to go, but I’m sure Alfred would like everyone all in one place.”

“Nice try Dickie but guilt trips don’t work on me. Not even if you bring Alfie into it.” Jason lifts the grease stained brown bag he’s holding and waves it. “You’re interrupting dinner by the way.”

He knows he said something wrong by the way Dick’s eyes light up. “Did I interrupt a post-patrol date?” He smirks. “I know how those usually go.”

Jason’s face heats. He’d forgotten that literally everyone they knew is under the impression that him and Tim are dating. He catches Tim watching him with an unreadable expression, but Dick stands and blocks their vision of each other before Jason can try to decipher it. 

Jason moves out of the way when Dick starts to make his way toward the door, wanting to avoid one of Dick’s infamous goodbye hugs. Tim, however follows Dick like a puppy looking for attention. Jason heads to the kitchen to get their dinner set out and give them their privacy. 

By the time Tim comes into the kitchen after Dick leaves, Jason has two places set for them on either side of the table. He’s expecting it when Tim decides to sit in the seat next to him instead, reaching across the table to slide his food closer to him, but it makes Jason bite back a grin anyway.

“Seems like it went well with Dickie today,” Jason says. 

Tim nods, unable to talk since he already has a mouthful of burger. 

“You almost attacked him the first time you saw him. What changed?”

Tim swallows loudly. “Junior hasn’t been a problem since I was able to bring myself out of his influence the day I saved you.”

“Well thank God. That guy was a prick,” Jason says, flicking a fry at Tim. “Does this mean you’ll go to Alfred’s lunch tomorrow?”   


Tim picks up the fry Jason threw at him and swirls it in his ketchup. “I’m thinking about it. Will you come with me?”

“Are you serious?” Jason stares at him incredulously. “Why?”

“You don’t have to,” Tim says quickly. “It’d just be nice to have you there.”

“But you just said Junior wasn’t a problem anymore.” Jason frowns. “So why would you need me there?”

Tim takes another bite of his food and chews very slowly before he responds. “I wouldn’t need you to be with me. I’d just want you there.”

“Oh,” Jason says softly. “I guess it would make it easier with them thinking we’re together an’ all.”

Tim goes silent after that, picking at his food with a far off look in his eyes. Jason leaves him to his thoughts, happy to eat and wait until Tim decides if he wants to talk about whatever struck his mind suddenly. 

He never does bring it up though, finishing his food quietly and then bidding Jason an early goodnight, and Jason’s desire to give Tim any space he needs always outweighs his curiosity. 

-

Lunch at the manor starts off as a relatively peaceful affair until Damian asks Bruce quiet pointedly if they were still going on patrol together that night. The question itself would seem harmless if not for Damian’s tone and the way he watching Tim closely as if to see his reaction then. It takes Jason only seconds to understand, but Tim is faster. 

“You gave him the mantle?” His voice gives away nothing, but Jason doesn’t hesitate to reach for his hand under the table, intertwining his fingers with Tim’s.

Dick speaks up then, shooting an incredulous look Bruce’s way. “You told me you had talked to him!”

“You weren’t in a position to continue working alongside me, Tim. And Damian needs to start learning how we work.” 

“Are you really that useless that you can’t work without a partner for a month while Tim recuperates from the shit you put him through?” Jason snarls, and Tim’s clammy hand squeezes his. 

“Batman needs a Robin. Drake always said so himself.” Damian still only has eyes for Tim, bowed up like he’s expecting a fight from Tim. 

And, when Tim looks back at Damian, blue eyes made of ice in his rage, Jason expects Tim to give him just that, but all he says is, “Okay.” It’s said which such blatant finality that even Damian lets confusion slip past his mask. 

“Okay?” Dick prompts gently. 

Tim’s hand is shaking in Jason’s when he says, “I’m not really surprised. I just wish Bruce would have had the backbone to let me know before he did it. But really, that’s not surprising either,” he turns away from all of them to Jason. “Are you ready to go?”

“Hell yeah,” Jason says immediately. They both ignore everyone except Alfred on their way out, giving him a hug as he thanks them for his presents. 

The anger is still pouring off of Tim in cool waves on the drive home, and he paces around the penthouse living room once they’re inside before he’s able to drop down onto the couch with a heavy sigh. Jason hesitates only briefly before sitting down beside him.

“Are you okay?”

“No...I don’t know.” Tim sighs. “I’m not so sure I even wanted to go back to being Batman’s Robin. I’m not sure I could.”

“Then don’t be his Robin anymore,” Jason says, some sort of desperate feeling welling up inside of him. “You’ve outgrown the mantle and you’ve outgrown Bruce.”

Tim stares at him, looking lost. “What am I if I’m not Robin?”

“You can still be Robin, just don’t be his anymore.” Jason reaches for Tim’s hand. “Be mine.”

“Yours?” Tim’s leaning closer to him and Jason finds himself moving forward as well. 

“Yes, we’ve been working so well together lately, why stop now? I may be hard to get along with most of the time but I promise I’ll always at least listen to your judgment and treat you like an equal, not a soldier. I’ll never make you feel like you aren’t good enough to stand with me, no matter what happens. I’ll never make you feel like you can be replaced.” Jason reaches up with his free hand to cup Tim’s cheek in his palm. “Be my Robin.” 

And Tim finally moving in to kiss Jason is the only answer either of them need. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is curious: The original plan was for this to be much darker, with Tim's recovery being more of a one step forward, two steps back type thing. He also would have been more aggressive toward Jason (with Jason dealing with that Tim-Junior mash up more often than not), and also toward the bad guys that kidnapped Jay and Roy. In this story, Tim would have eventually become more of an antihero with Jay's influence and I'm not sure they would have ended up dating in that version bc it certainly wouldn't have been a healthy relationship. I just liked this version better bc I am a Happy Ending girl at heart and I wanted Tim to have the nearly steady recovery from this trauma that he deserved. And while he still isn't the 100% okay, he's well on his way and has Jason there with him throughout every step :) The only thing I am sad about getting cut is that there would have been more TimDami bonding in the longer version....so maybe one day I'll do a bonus chapter with the two of them ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked this, feel free to leave a comment and/or a kudos and if you want to check out my Tumblr where I post previews for upcoming fics you can check that out here:   
> [Glaciya](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/glaciya)
> 
> ALSO! "Chalala" was kind enough to create a very beautiful drawing for the bathroom scene in chapter two! You can check that out [here!](https://www.picz.in.th/image/Yw5XvD)


End file.
